William Sievert

A bit more than 100 years ago, Kazimir Malevich and Wassily Kandinsky opened a new era in Western art. For more than 600 years the powerful influence of Renaissance representation, that is, art that represented objective things, dominated Western art. Malevich and Kandinsky invented an entirely new kind of art, an art which had never been seen before and they awoke a new way of seeing. Their art did not refer to the external world but rather the internal unseen, non-objective world. Their ambitions were no less than seeking what John Golding called “Paths to the Absolute”.
By abandoning the representation of external reality, artistic parameters (such as color, size, composition, materials) have become themes of nonrepresentational art. The artist is not liberated from the historic obligations to record objects and document history. The artist is free to express feelings directly. Nonrepresentational art is about nothing, but by being about nothing it can be about anything or everything.
The more non-representational composition makes the work process the subject in itself. The more the basics of production and reception of art become the focus. Non-representational paintings are about color, light and space. In other words the paint itself is the picture.
In my paintings I rely on how the human eye and mind work with situations of ambiguity to construct individual meaning. I am concerned with the effects of beautiful colors and a sense of movement. In my abstractions I seek to free the viewers from all dictate as to subject, and rely solely on color, line and composition to reach into their hearts and minds and touch archetypal emotions, to momentarily arrest worries and preoccupations and transcend the mundane concerns that weigh us down, even if temporarily. Each individual is free to see something different. My paintings become a collaboration between myself and the interpreting observer in creating the image.
My background in the arts includes graphic design, silver photography, independent animated films, creative writing, cartooning and installation art.